The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories describes the origins and sense development of thousands of words in the English language. Drawn from the remarkable database that holds the ongoing research for the Oxford English Dictionary, each word reveals the richness of its past and communicates its present.
Colorful popular beliefs are explored about words such as posh and snob, while insights are given into social history: discover, for example, the connection in a Roman soldier's mind of salary with salt and how the notion of public school has changed since first instituted. Idioms reveal how and why they came about: (one's other hall, say it with flowers, no gain without pain)

17cm x 24.5cm, 560 pages, Hardcover, 2002 (Condition: Very Good, marking on the first page)

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